The idea for the competition came during an area of responsibility familiarization, while Cmdr. Eva VanCamp, the chief of response at Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads, had lunch at several Coast Guard units. VanCamp decided to try out a friendly cooking competition to highlight the work that food service specialists provide to their respective units.

Coast Guard members that participated in a cooking competition at Coast Guard Station Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Va., stand for a group photo following the judging, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Brandyn Hill

Tuesday, units were provided a mystery basket consisting of a wide variety of ingredients that had to be used in certain dishes. Some ingredients included shrimp, tofu, quinoa, corn nuts, graham crackers and Sour Patch Kids candy.

The competition consisted of three categories, including appetizers, entrees and desserts, and was judged by five people based on the food’s taste, appearance, presentation and originality.

Petty Officer 2nd Class David Blonn, a food service specialist representing the Albacore, won the competition. His appetizer consisted of corn nut crusted cod with roasted garlic toast and artichoke tartar sauce, an entrée of creamy butternut quinoa and apple and honey glazed shrimp with pomegranate cranberry sauce and fried green beans and a dessert of tofu cheesecake with apple ganache and sour patch kids strawberry sauce. Station Little Creek placed second, the Beluga third, Station Cape Charles in fourth and the Sea Horse in fifth.

“The morale of a cutter starts on the mess deck,” said Capt. John Little, the commander of Sector Hampton Roads. “I was impressed with the creativity of all the cooks given the wide range of ingredients.”

“In something like this, there are no losers, as the crews benefit from the food service specialists’ proficiency on a daily basis,” said Little. “We look forward to having another cook off in the future and including more participants.”